With triumph of democracy in civic poll, people of Darjeeling have already won

SANDIP C JAIN, EOI, 22 February, 2022:  About almost a decade ago, I had written an article in which I had written about how an autocratic political party, then holding sway over the hills of Darjeeling, was making a mockery of the word ‘democracy.’ 

In the name of democracy all that the ruling party was exhibiting was a photo frame of the father of the nation, M. K. Gandhi. 

Every event started with the customary garlanding of the photo-frame and that was it in democracy. In effect, democracy was all but buried alive when it came to every other thing in the hills; no other political party was allowed to hold public meetings, the media was heavily bullied and browbeaten into towing the line that they wanted, no dissent was brooked and every aspect of hill life was controlled and monitored by the political master of those days. 

In actuality, the only Gandhi that the leaders and goons of the ruling elite loved and respected was the one that peeped out of the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations. Come 2022, finally it seems the democracy that Gandhi had envisaged is coming back to the hills of Darjeeling. 

The dance of democracy is now finally being properly exhibited in the run up to the Municipality elections in Darjeeling town. 

The same old bullies who had held democracy to ransom are now going door to door begging for votes for their respective candidates. Gandhi finally must be happy to have emerged outside the photo frames and the currency notes. 

After many years, a level playing field is on display during these Municipality elections; something which probably was last witnessed almost 40 years ago. 

The last election of this democratic nature, in the Darjeeling hills, was probably witnessed way back in the 1982. 

Elections in the next four decades were but a sham with the supreme leader of the hills of the time deciding who should win or even who should be the opponent. Most of the time the supreme leader’s candidate won uncontested. 

There was a time when jokingly it was said that if the supreme leader wanted, he could field a donkey as his candidate and it would still win handsomely. 

The joke of course was said in the literal sense, the fact was that in many cases this was true to an extent, considering the quality of the winning candidate. In the fray in this election is the new political outfit, Hamro Party, led by the charismatic Ajay Edward who has a long track record of positive work to his credit. 

This political party along with the Anit Thapa - led Bharitya Gorkha Prajatrantik Morcha are the only two major parties who are going it alone in these elections. The other two major parties in the contest, Gorkha National Liberation Front and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, seem not willing to leave the warm embrace of the two respective national parties they are presently courting. 

The difference between the GNLF and the BJP has been blurred to such an extent in the hills of Darjeeling that now green looks like orange to the apolitical eye. 

As for the GJM and the Trinamool Congress, it looks like the blue and white of the Trinamool now includes the yellow, green and white of the GJM. The khukri on the GJM flag now seemingly has a love relation with the twin flowers on the Trinamool Congress flag. 

As far as I am concerned, who wears the Darjeeling Municipality crown is immaterial; the people of Darjeeling have already won irrespective of who forms the next board. democracy finally has triumphed in the Darjeeling hills. 

(The author of this article is the Editor of Himalayan Times, Kalimpong)